UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion Cyborg is defending the gold against UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes in the main event of UFC 232.
Nunes is training at American Top Team for this bout, which the champion has done for a lot of her professional MMA career. ATT is also where Brazil hating UFC Interim Welterweight Champion Colby Covington trains and that’s why Cyborg refers to Nunes as a traitor to her native country.
“‘Creonte’ is a Brazilian word that means traitor,” Cyborg told Fan Sided. “I think it’s embarrassing that the UFC made Amanda the first female Brazilian champion and instead of representing Brazil when she fights, she calls herself American Top Team. She disrespects Brazilian MMA fans every time she walks into the cage as a part of American Top Team. This is the same gym as Colby Covington. He disrespected Brazil so badly that the UFC was worried they didn’t have enough security to keep him safe and had to move his fight against [Rafael dos Anjos] to the USA instead of Brazil. Yet Nunes goes into the gym every day to train alongside Colby Covington and even shares the same coaches. Where I’m from in Brazil this would never happen. Imagine Chael Sonnen walking into Chute Boxe and training with Wanderlei Silva, Anderson Silva, or any of the coaches. Do you think they would have let him train after all the things he said about Brazil? No. They would have defended Brazil’s honor. Amanda doesn’t have that same respect for Brazil.”
While Covington and Nunes both train at ATT, it is unknown how much time they train together or if the dual UFC champions always train apart from each other.
Cyborg initially didn’t want to fight Nunes, but that that she has a country to defend from an alleged traitor, its a bout the featherweight champion is looking forward to.
“When she called me out last year at first I didn’t want to fight her,” Cyborg said. “I wanted to see all the women divisions run by the Brazilians. Myself, Amanda, [Jessica] Andrade, we could have all been champions and I thought it would bring pride back to all of Brazil. But Nunes is from a Team of ‘creontes.’ At American Top Team it is normal for teammates to fight each other. She called me out last year but then wanted a year before we can fight. When I fight her Dec. 29 it will be for everyone in Brazil, and it will be to teach Nunes a lesson about respect.”
UFC 232 takes place on Saturday, December 29 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Cyborg and Amanda Nunes headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
